Defense Ministry: Treasury Claims are Baseless

The Defense Ministry responded, Sunday afternoon, to Finance Ministry criticism of the the Tischler Committee report on the defense budget by saying, "We regret that the Treasury does not deal in a substantive way with a report compiled by leading professionals in their fields, and instead makes use of slogans that are not true." The Finance Ministry had cited the Tischler Committee for having been appointed by the Defense Ministry, with no input from the Treasury or the Prime Minister's Office.

A Defense Ministry statement continued, "The claim of non-participation by Treasury staff is baseless since the Accountant General, the Deputy Budget Director and the Finance Ministry's Defense Budget Director, Mr. Meir Bing, appeared before the committee...."